In the prior art, certain tires, because of their specific use, require lower sidewall support, beyond that provided by the apex and turn up of the carcass. In a number of such tires, some racing tires in particular, the lower sidewall support is provided in the form of an extra wedge of rubber integrally molded to the sidewall of the tire. Such a wedge of rubber is axially thickest in the area of the tire that makes contact with the rim flange, and usually is tapered to a point radially about the widest axial cross section width of the tire.
In such tires, the support is referred to as "rim flange support". The rim flange support limits the flexing of the lower sidewall of the tire and reduces the distortion of the tire during cornering, which improves the handling properties of a vehicle at high speeds.
In some racing tires, an inner safety shield is placed inside the tire to help cushion the impact of a catastrophic loss of air from the tire. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 5,246,050 and references cited therein. Although the tires are made uniformly, the safety shield can often cause an imbalance in the tire/rim assembly, and such imbalance can be most expeditiously corrected by mounting weights on the rim, as is conventional in the tire art.
Because of the rim flange support on the tire, however, it is difficult to attach conventional weights to the rim flange.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a tire, and a tire/rim assembly, which improve the technicians' ability to balance a wheel to be used to support a vehicle. Other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following description and claims.